Boiler control apparatus



I July 5, I w H GREEN BOILER CONTROL APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 1, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l WaZZerfz firecm fizz/e272?" y 5, 1932- w. HJGREEN BOILER CONTROL APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 1. 1929 Greew W WW Patented July 5, 1932 i uurren STATES rarsur oFFies WALTER I-L-GREEN, or crricnoo, trimmers, assrenon 1 GENERAL znonrrn COMPANY,

onorrroaco", ILLInoIs, A CORPORATION OF ILi-irnoIs BOILER CONTROL APPARATUS Application filed February l 1929; Serial No. 336,863. Renewed December 9, 1931.

This invention relatesto apparatus and audit is necessary to suppleinentsuch purifier methods otremoving liquid from one or more discharge by an additional boiler blowdown. places of high pressure to places of lower This additional blowdown should also be propressure. It more I particularly relates to portional to the amount of evaporation, or

steam purifiersand to methods and means of more preferably proportional to both the removing the collected water and impurities amount of evaporation and the rate of therefrom, especially those systems in which evaporation. Since the purifier discharge is a boiler blow-down and steam purifier disproportional to the amount oi evaporation charge are simultaneously actuated. and also" under certain conditions propor- L0 in the copending application of lValter tional to both the amount and rate of evaporato H. Groenau d others, Serial Number 188,104, tion, it would be desirable to control the profiled May 2nd, 1927, there is disclosed a steam portion of and/ or actuate this additional purifier adapted tobe placed within the steam blowdown by the purifier discharge. space of a boiler and in which any moisture'in An object of this invention isto provide a the Steam passing out of the boiler, is remeans by which the waterfrom the collectc5 moved by a series of deflecting vanes, such ing chamber ofthe steam purifier and aboiler moisture being collected in a chamber in the blowdown system will be discharged simullower part of such purifier. taneously.

It is desirable toremove the water and im Another object of this invention is to pro- I purities, so collected from the steam, to the vide an improved apparatus by means 013 7.0 outside of the boiler. The water carried by which a boiler'may be blown downin proporthe steam generated in an ordinary boiler,a-nd .tion to the quantity and quality of the steam removed from such steam by a purifier, con prod d and i PIOPOIUOIL 130 the Steaming tains substantially the same impurities as the rate. i

I 25 water inthe boiler and in about the same pro- "A further object of this invention is to portions. The more impure the water in the provide an improved apparatus for dischargboiler, the more impure the steam will be ingoneror more liquid containing chambers, dueto increased turbulence, foaming or primwhich are under pressure, simultaneously to ing, accompanying the release of the steam the atmosphere or to other place of lower so at the water surface. Also the greater the pressure. so steaming rate the greater the amount of An especial object of this invention is to moisture and impurities that will be enprovide a combined purifier-discharge and trained, so that as a general rule in order to boiler blowdown system which may be actumaintain the steam of substantially constant ated by means of one blow-ofi'valve.

35 quality it is desirable to have a lower boiler Other objects will appear during the course i concentration at higher steaming rates than ofthe following description. 7 at lower steaming rates. In the preferred form of the present inven- Since the amount of water collected by tion the moistur'e and impurities collected the purifier from the steam corresponds to from the steam purifier are conducted to one 40 the quantity and quality of the steam genor more collecting 'and/orfioat chambers;

7 down of the boiler and will increase withan end of the drum 'The collecting and/or eratedand since the quality decreases with adjacent to, or removed from, the purifier. higher solid concentration and higher steam- It the collecting or float chamberi's positioned ing, rates, the water removed from thesteam within the boiler ldrum', it may be placed by the purifier is in reality a partial bloweither directly under the purifier or near one increase in the solid concentration and with 'fioat'ch'ambers or additional chambers may an increase in the rate of steaming. Frealso be positionedoutside of the boiler drum. quently, however, this partial blowdown is In one embodiment of the inventionfone of not suflicient' to regulate the boiler water the collecting chambers is providedwith a solid concentration in a satisfactory manner, float and cooperating latch anditrip-weight mechanism, which are adapted to open the purifier discharge and blowdown lines simultaneously when a predetermined amount of liquid has collected therein. This float chamber may be adapted to collect all the impurities and moisture separated by the steam purifier or only a portion thereof, and it may be placed within or without the boiler.

In the drawings, which show several embodiments of the invention Figures 1 and 2 represent a side sectional view of a boiler shell, showing the steam purifiers in position and an external float chamber;

Figures 3 and 4 are detail views illustrating the discharge and check valve arrangements and the float and trip mechanism Figure 5 illustrates a modification in which the float chamber is positioned within the boiler drum; and

Figures 6 and illustrate details of the float mechanism and of the discharge valve.

In Figures 1 and 2 the boiler shell 11 is provided with the steam space 12 and contains a body of water 13. It is provided'with a main steam outlet 14, which steam outlet communicates with the steam purifiers 15. These steam purifiers are provided with steam inlets 16 from the steam space of the boiler 12, with the purifying elements 17, and with the steam outlet connection 18 which communicates with the main steam outlet 14 of the boiler. Below the purifying elements 17 is, or are, normally positioned a chamber or chambers 19 for collecting the moisture and impurities removed from the steam in its passage through the purifier.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 1, the collecting chambers 19 are caused to drain into an enlarged collecting lecting chamber 40 by means of the conduits 41. The enlarged collecting or drain chambers 20 and 40 are emptied by means of a conduit 57 which leads to the exterior of the boiler.

On the exterior of the boiler is positioned a small float chamber 50 which is placed at substantially the same level as the chamber 19, 20 and 40 within the boiler drum. This float chamber 50 (see Figure 4) is provided with a steam space 51 which communicates with the steam space 12 of the boiler by means of the pipes 53 and 55, and with a water space 52 which communicates with an internal drain or collecting chamber by means of the conduits 56 and 57. Within the float chamber 50 (see Figure 4) is positioned a spherical float 60. This float is provided with a latch and trip weight mechanism which is adapted to cause elevation ot'the weight 61 during its upward motion and to release the weight when it has reached its maximum predetermined hei ht, which will occur when the collecting chambers have all been filled with liquid to a definite level. At such time the weight will drop opening the line 62 to the atmosphere.

This will result in openin the valve permitting a discharge of the collected impurities and moisture in the purifier collecting chambers and also causing a proportionate boilerblowdown. The line 62 remains open until a desired amount of dischargetakes place, whereupon the float will reach a predetermined low level at which the latch and trip weight mechanism will be actuated so as to cut off the line 62 from the atmosphere and connect it to the steam space of the boiler 11. This will cause closure of the valve 70 and stop further discharge. The valve 70 will remain closed during the upward movement of the float 60.

The construction and operation of the float, trip weight and latch mechanism is more fully shown and described in a copending application Serial Number 386,691 filed February 1, 1929.

The discharge valve and its connecting conduits are shown in detail upon Figure 3. The discharge is carried through the valve '1' O by means of the passages 71, 72 and 73. At

the entrance of the passage 7 2 is the throttle valve 7 1 which may be adjusted so as to control the rate of discharge. The exit of the passage 72 is adapted to be closed by means of the valve 75 which is actuated by the piston 76. team under boiler pressure is supplied to the piston 76 by means of the conduit 62 in the periods between discharges. The main discharge passage 80 leads to sage 71. This passage receives the comb purifier and boiler discharge. The purifier discharge line 57 and the boiler blowdown line 81 are connected to the passage 80 at the fitting 82.

In both the purifier discharge and the boiler blowdown lines before the fitting 82 may be positioned the proportioning valves 83 and 84, for fixing the ratio of the purifier discharge to the boiler blowdown, and the check vaives 85 86 for preventing a reverse flow through conduits 57 and 81. The reasons for this are readily apparent. Taking Figure 1 for purposes of exemplification, when the chamber 20 is filled to a point near its maximum level, the level therein is higher than the boiler water level and there would be a tendency for the collected moisture therein to flow into the boiler through the line 57, the fitting 82 and the line 81. When, however,

determined level has been reached.

- check valve on the steam purifier discharge line has been eliminated since there is no possibility of the boiler water flowing into the chambers 40'and 50, said chambers being at a higher level than the boiler water line.

- Figure 5 shows an arrangement in which the'fioat chamber and the collecting cham ers are positioned inside the-boiler drum. The float 100 actuates a trip weight-latch-pilot valve mechanism. Figures 6 and 7 are detailed views of the float and discharge valve mechanism used in this embodiment of the invention. W hen the ball float 100 is in its lowermost position, as shown upon Figures 5 and 6, the valve 101 will be closed, cutting off any discharge through the purifier discharge line 102 and the boiler blowdown line 103. When the boiler is in operation, the moisture separated from the steam in the purifier sections 17 will gradually collect in the enlarged floatand collecting chamber 99 until a pre- At this point the ball float will release a weight or trip, which in turn will open a valve admitting boiler pressure intothe line 104. This boiler pressure will be exerted against the piston 1050f the valve 101 lifting the valve member 106 from its seat. As a result discharge will commence through the purifier discharge 1ine102 and a boiler blowdo-wn line 103. This discharge will continue until the ball float 100 has reached the lowest position. Thereupon line 104 will be cut off from the steam space of the boiler, piston 105 will be moved to the left, and valve member 106 will be seated closing the boiler blowdown and the purifiercdischarge passages. It will be noted that the boiler blowdown line is provided with a check valve 107 and that both lines are provided with proportioningvalves 109 and 110 before they are combined by the fitting 111.

By regulating valves 83 and 8 1 (see Figure 3) or the valves 109 and 110 (see Figure 5), it is possible to secure the proper proportionment between the steam purifier discharge and the boiler discharge. Since the purifier discharge is proportional to the quality and quantity of the steam and also to the steaming rate, it is evident that the boiler blowdown will also be proportional to these factors. In the preferred arrangement of the present invention the discharge of the main body of liquid and impurities from the collecting or drain chamber of thsteam purifier inside the boiler is by boiler pressure. The discharge of the liquid and impurities is quickly accomplished in an entirely positive manner when the discharge valve is open. It is preferable to position all moving parts of the discharge mechanism outside of the boiler I shell, where they may be easily cleaned, re-

paired and replaced as shown upon 1 and 2. r

If desired, the steam purifier couldalso Figures be placed without theboiler shell, for example in the steam line 14. Also the collectchamber and float chambers could be placed outside the boiler and all the separated moisture and impurities could be caused todrain by gravity thereto. p 7 It will be noted that the present invention describes an apparatus broadly adapted to enable discharge of one or more liquid containing chambers which are under pressures higherthan atmospheric, but'which are at H difi'erent pressures as amongst themselves. This discharge will be simultaneous and the amount of discharge from the various chambers may be regulated in the proportions desired.

hat is claimed is: p p

1. In combination with a boiler, asteam purifier, a discharge conduit for theimpurities collected by said purifier, a blow-down conduit for the boiler, a common conduit [M adapted to receive said purifier discharge and said blow-down and a valve upon said conduit actuated periodically by the amount of impurities collected by said purifier.

2. In combination with a boiler, a steam purifier, a chamber for receiving collected impurities, means for conducting the collected impurities from said chamber to the exterior of the boiler, means for blowing down the boiler, a conduit exterior to said boiler communicating with said impurity conducting meansand said boiler blowdown means to receive said collected impurities and said blowdown, a valve upon said conduit and means actuated by the level of liquid in said chamher to control the action of said valve. I

8. In combination with aboiler, a steam purifier, means for discharging said steam purifier, means for discharging the boiler,

and means actuated by the amount of water,.

discharged from said purifier for removing suitable quantities of boiler water by said to receive the combined steam purifier and.

boiler discharge, a valve upon said conduit, a chamber for receiving steam purlfier discharge and means for actuating said valve which is in turn actuated when a certain amount of liquid is collected in said cham ber. p A 4. In combination with a boiler, a means for separating the moisture in steam, a col lecting chamber for-said moisture, a blowdown line from said boiler, a valve upon said line means actuated by the separated moisture in said collecting chamber to control said valve, a conduit for discharging the collecting chamber into said blow-down line be fore said valve and means for preventing reverse flow in said conduit.

5. In combination wi h a boiler, a steam purifier, means for admitting steam to said purifier, a conduit for removing purified steam from said purifier and conveying it to the steam outlet of the boiler, a conduit for draining the impurities to without the boiler shell, a boiler blow-down line leading into said drainage conduit,.a valve upon said drainage conduit positioned after the place of joinder of the blow-down line and the drainage conduit and means for controlling said valve governed by the amount of drainage. 7

6. In combination with a boiler, a valved blow-down line, means for removing the moisture from the steam, a collecting chamher for moisture so removed, a line for dis chargin said collecting chamber, said last mentioned line joining with said first mentioned line before the valve, means for preventing reverse flow in either of said lines before the place of joint-tire, a float in said chamber and means actuated by said float to control the valve on the blow-down line.

7 In combination with a boiler, a blowdown line, a piston operated valve upon said blow-down line, a steam purifier in the steam space of said boiler shell a collecting chamier for receiving the impurities removed from the steam, a discharge line for said collecting chamber joining with said blow-down line before the valve, means for preventing reverse flew in either of saic lines before their point of jointure, a float chan'ibcr, a pressure fluid line to said above mentioned piston operated valve, and a valve upon said fluid pressure line controlled by the movement of the float said float chamber.

8. In combination with a boiler control, a blow-down line, a piston operated valve upon said blowdown line, a steam purifier, a float chamber, a liquid line from said purifier to said float chamber, a discharge line from said float chamber leading to the valve chamber of above mentioned piston operated valve, means for preventing reverse flow in said blow-down line or said discharge line, a pressure fluid line leading-to the piston cylinder of said above mentioned piston operated valve, and a valve upon said fluid pressure line governed by the movement of the float in said float chamber.

9. In combination with a boiler, a steam purifier, a collecting chamber below said purifier, discharge lines from said collecting chamber and from the water space of the boiler, said lines uniting in a common discharge line, a piston-operated valve on said common discharge line outside of the boiler, means for admitting fluid pressure to and for cutting oil fluid pressure from the piston of said piston-operated valve, and means for preventing flow from said water space to said collecting chamber or from said collecting chamber to said water space.

10. In combination with a boiler, a steam purifier, a collecting chamber below said purifier, a discharge line from said collecting chamber extending outside of the boiler, a blow-down line, a combined line connecting with said discharge and blow-down lines, a valve on said combined line outside of the boiler, means for preventing reverse flow in either the blow-down line or the discharge line, and means for governing said valve controlled by the liquid level in the collecting chamber.

11. In an apparatus for simultaneously ischarging liquid containing chambers which are under a higher pressure than atmospheric to the atmosphere, a piston operated valve one side of which is connected to a point of atmospheric discharge, a series of discharge lines leading to said piston operated valve, a fluid pressure line leading to said piston and having means to admit or cut oil fluid from the piston of said valve, a float in one of said chambers, a trip mechanism actuated by said float a valve actuated by said trip mechanism adapted to open or close said fluid pressure line, check valves in each of said discharge lines adapted to prevent reverse flow therein and proportioning valves in each of said lines adapted to proportion the flows in the various lines.

12. In combination with a boiler, a steam purifier, a collecting chamber for said puriflcr, a float responsive to the level in said collecting chamber, a discharge conduit from said chamber, a blowdown conduit from the boiler, a common discharge valve for said discharge conouit and said blowdown conduit, a pilot valve actuated by said float, and means in association with said pilot valve for controlling said dischargevalve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name.

WALTER H. GREEN. 

